Black Sand

Edward Baugh has one of the most recognisable voices in Caribbean poetry: his dry wit, poise and elegance, his constant capacity to surprise with the range of his concerns. Black Sand comprises poems selected from Baugh's two previous collections, A Tale from the Rain Forest (1988) and It was the Singing (2000), plus a collection's worth of new poems. His subject matter ranges wide: race, history, sport, love, the academic life, the consolations of natural beauty. He also casts a shrewd eye over a Jamaica characterised by urbane polish, gated communities, religious enthusiasm, and a black majority still struggling against the wrongs of the past. "Edward Baugh has been able... to avoid imitation and stay tellingly brief in the midst of such epic scale... He does not disappoint." The Poetry Archive